VOL. 37 | NO. 37 | Friday, September 13, 2013
REAL ESTATE
Home sales are soaring in the Nashville region, but that’s no surprise to Phillip Teal. He knows the housing market is hot when he sees a lot of new cars on the road.
Top August 2013 residential real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
REALTY CHECK
With 3,084 closings in August, home sales increased 18.3 percent compared to August 2012, Greater Nashville Association of Realtors numbers show, and are up 22.8 percent year-to-date.
TERRY McCORMICK
The Tennessee Titans have made plenty of changes in the off-season on both sides of the football, and many were on display in Sunday’s season opener at Pittsburgh where the Titans stunned the favored Steelers 16-9.
NEWSMAKERS
The Nashville Public Education Foundation has announced Shannon Hunt as the group’s new president.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
A career in sales isn’t for the faint of heart.You must be thick-skinned in the face of adversity, have a dogged determination and be prepared for some long days in the pursuit of the almighty sale.
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
Each new month delivers a flurry of economic data. The current deluge will weigh heavily on the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain or reduce quantitative easing. Let’s quickly review the recent releases and handicap the Fed’s taper temptation.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
Sometimes strange things, more accurately strange ideas and events, influence our behavior.
I SWEAR
In a Huffington Post article with the dateline of Venice, Italy, actor Scott Haze says he spent three months living in the Tennessee mountains to prepare for a role in a film.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
“Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin’”…
MUSIC INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The music and movie industries are sounding the alarm again on online piracy, saying illegal downloads are on the rise and search engines like Google aren't doing enough to stop them.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The power of two voices raised in harmony was on display Wednesday night at the Americana Music Honors & Awards as Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell and the husband-wife duo Shovels & Rope earned top honors.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Supporters and critics of a new set of benchmarks for math and reading are getting their voices heard this week, as a state Senate panel holds hearings on the common core standards that have been adopted to some degree by 47 states and the District of Columbia.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander says a decision by the Department of the Interior means that Tennessee fish hatcheries will remain open.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it is recalling 318,000 Odyssey minivans in the U.S. and 63,400 Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles in several nations for an airbag defect.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home sales rose last month to the highest level since February 2007 as buyers rushed to close deals before mortgage rates increased further.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gauge of the U.S. economy's future health posted a solid gain in August, signaling stronger growth in coming months.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were mostly lower Thursday, a day after hitting a record high because of a surprise move from the Federal Reserve to keep its economic stimulus in place.
WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $920 million and has admitted that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss and renewed worries about serious risk-taking by major banks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits rose 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 309,000. But the data was distorted for the second straight week by reporting delays.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. current account trade deficit narrowed in the April-June quarter to the lowest level in nearly three years.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell 1 percent Thursday as excitement over the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep its monetary stimulus in place faded.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as the economy shows signs of improvement and poverty levels off, new U.S. census data suggests the gains are halting and uneven. Depending on education, race, income and even marriage, not all segments of the population are seeing an economic turnaround.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House promised a veto of a Republican effort to gut President Barack Obama's health care law that is part of a temporary funding bill in the House to prevent a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is convening his advisory council on international trade as the U.S. pursues an aggressive goal to double its exports.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
COURTS
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Clicking "Like" on Facebook is constitutionally protected free speech and can be considered the 21st century-equivalent of a campaign yard sign, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
NEWPORT (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ruled in favor of parents who want their 8-month-old baby to be named "Messiah."
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Nashville resident Kasar Abdulla will be honored by the White House as a "Champion of Change" for her work helping immigrants integrate into the fabric of their neighborhoods.
MIDSTATE
LEBANON (AP) - Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income dipped 1 percent from results a year ago that were helped by an extra week. The restaurant operator's results still beat Wall Street's expectations.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — FedEx says its quarterly profit rose 7 percent despite a dip in revenue in its FedEx Express unit, and it will raise prices in January.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tourism leaders from around Tennessee are hoping a new strategic plan will attract more visitors to the state and turn it into one of the nation's top 10 travel destinations.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Securities Division with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is sharing a new resource for investors.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Former state Republican Party chairwoman Robin Smith has been appointed to the Tennessee Economic Council on Women.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee has not made economic incentives for Volkswagen contingent on the German automaker rejecting the United Auto Workers union at its Chattanooga assembly plant, Gov. Bill Haslam said Wednesday.
DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen AG says its factory in Tennessee is the front-runner to build a new SUV.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — House GOP leaders Wednesday announced that they will move quickly to raise the government's borrowing cap by attaching a wish list of GOP priorities like blocking "Obamacare," forcing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and setting the stage for reforming the loophole-cluttered tax code.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A large group of House conservatives intends to unveil legislation providing an expanded tax break for consumers who purchase their own health coverage and increasing the government funding for high-risk pools, according to lawmakers who said the plan marked the Republicans' first comprehensive alternative to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration announced a high-level effort to reassure Americans about the privacy and security of the information submitted under the new health care law, hoping to blunt complaints from Republican opponents that enough isn't being done to protect consumer data.
Walgreen Co. is joining a growing push from big businesses to shift more responsibility for finding insurance onto their employees as health care costs continue to climb.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market hit a record high Wednesday as investors cheered the Federal Reserve's surprise decision to keep its economic stimulus program in place, at least for now.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprise, the Federal Reserve has decided against reducing its stimulus for the U.S. economy because its outlook for growth has dimmed in the past three months.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil spiked Wednesday as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly maintained its stimulus for the U.S. economy and the Energy Department reported a bigger than expected drop in supplies of crude oil and gasoline.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Public companies would have to show the difference in pay between their CEOs and ordinary employees under a proposal advanced by federal regulators.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. chief executives are less optimistic about the economy, according to a survey released Wednesday. The survey also indicates that disagreements over the 2014 budget and raising the debt ceiling in Washington are making them cautious about hiring.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders started work in August on the most single-family homes in six months and requested permits to construct even more in future months. The figures suggest housing remains a driver of economic growth despite higher mortgage rates.
CHICAGO (AP) — The creator of Beanie Babies stuffed animals has been charged with federal tax evasion for allegedly failing to report income earned in a secret offshore account, and he's agreed to pay a more than $53 million penalty.
NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks says guns are no longer welcome in its cafes, though it is stopping short of an outright ban on firearms.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Facebook has apologized after a dating ad featuring the photo of a Canada teen who died after months of bullying was posted on its site.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama, facing a budget showdown with Congress, called on some of the nation's top corporate executives Wednesday to use their influence with Congress to avoid a potentially damaging confrontation over the nation's debt ceiling.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's top energy and environmental officials said Wednesday there is a future for coal, despite a pending regulation aimed at limiting global warming pollution from new power plants that Republicans and the coal industry say will doom the fuel source.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans pressed the Obama administration Wednesday to fully disclose plans to tackle climate change, including cost, as environmental officials readied one of the most significant pieces in President Barack Obama's global warming strategy.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Vanderbilt University Medical Center was expected to cut several hundred more jobs this week as part of a plan to eliminate more than 1,000 positions by the end of the year.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam says he was disappointed to hear of a petition signed by nearly half of the states' school superintendents that raised serious concerns about Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman.
FRANKLIN (AP) — The governor's conference on tourism kicks off on Tuesday in Franklin and runs through Thursday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — As automakers race to make cheaper electric cars with greater battery range, General Motors is working on one that can go 200 miles per charge at a cost of about $30,000, a top company executive said.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Car sales in Europe are still sagging despite the return of modest economic growth.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks rose on Tuesday as investors shrugged off worries about what the Federal Reserve is up to.
The price of oil slipped 1 percent Tuesday as investors prepared for an expected reduction in the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's poverty rate remained stuck at 15 percent last year despite America's slowly reviving economy, a discouraging lack of improvement for the record 46.5 million poor and an unwelcome benchmark for President Barack Obama's recovery plans.
U.S. homebuilders' confidence in the housing market held this month at its highest level in nearly eight years. But builders are starting to worry that sales may slow if mortgage rates continue to rise.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A robust recovery for the global economy remains well out of reach.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S consumer prices barely rose last month, the latest sign that slow economic growth is keeping inflation tame.
Coming off of a weak back-to-school shopping period, a research firm expects holiday sales growth will be slower this year during the crucial holiday season. Shoppers are also expected to visit fewer stores as they research purchases online.
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft said Tuesday that its board approved a 22 percent increase in the company's quarterly dividend to 28 cents along with a new $40 billion stock buyback program.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the Senate Energy Committee say they are concerned that President Barack Obama's nominee to be the nation's top energy regulator has views they consider to be outside the mainstream.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A potential federal shutdown looming, President Barack Obama on Monday warned congressional Republicans they could trigger national "economic chaos" if they demand a delay of his health care law as the price for supporting continued spending for federal operations.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
NASHVILLE AREA
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge says private prison company Corrections Corporation of America is in contempt of court for persistently understaffing an Idaho prison in direct violation of a legal settlement.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Dozens of Tennessee bridges are among the thousands nationwide that have advanced deterioration or are at risk of collapsing, federal data show. That works out to a small percentage of the state's total number of bridges, but it could be enough to cause concern among drivers who travel them regularly.
AUTO INDUSTRY
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — St. Paul cartoonist and bicycling advocate Andy Singer takes a look at "Why We Drive" in his new coffee-table book romp through the history of a car-centric culture.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is being engulfed by the one thing it tries to prevent: uncertainty.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The gap in employment rates between America's highest- and lowest-income families has stretched to its widest levels since officials began tracking the data a decade ago, according to an analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are higher after former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers withdrew from the race to become head of the Federal Reserve.
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Max Baucus said Monday that his bipartisan effort to reform the nation's tax code helped attract some of the business world's biggest names to Montana for a conference on creating jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories increased output in August by the most in eight months, helped by a robust month at auto plants. The gains are a hopeful sign that manufacturing could help boost economic growth in the second half of the year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Life is good for America's super wealthy.
The price of oil fell below $107 a barrel on Monday in reaction to the agreement reached between the U.S. and Russia on getting Syria to give up its chemical weapons.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For weeks, Lawrence Summers had been considered the leading candidate to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring is soft. Pay is barely up. Consumers are cautious. Economic growth has yet to pick up.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blistering warning to congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama said Monday it would be the "height of irresponsibility" for lawmakers to cause a new economic crisis just five years after the near-collapse of the nation's financial system.
CHICAGO (AP) — He has never been elected to anything, not even "student council in high school," as he boasts. He has little patience for schmoozing. In dealing with people, he admits to being "pretty blunt" - more suited to running a large private equity firm, which Bruce Rauner did successfully for 30 years, than seeking votes for governor, which he intends to do in Illinois next year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is seeking credit for an economic turnaround, using the fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank to highlight signs of recovery and to warn against potentially market-rattling fights over the federal budget and the nation's debt ceiling.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Suspended Vanderbilt wide receiver Chris Boyd entered a conditional guilty plea Friday to a role in attempting to cover up the rape of an unconscious student.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The district attorney's office is declining to prosecute former Tennessee linebacker Keith Bulluck on felony robbery charges.
Agencies in Nashville and Jackson, Miss., have sealed a partnership agreement designed to grow their business in public relations, marketing, advertising and branding.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman didn't offer any apologies in his first comments about a petition signed by more than 60 school superintendents that is critical of his leadership at the department.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Honorably discharged veterans may now obtain specially designated driver's licenses in Tennessee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A Democratic leader in the House says he has asked for correspondence between Gov. Bill Haslam and Volkswagen.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the biggest challenges facing Brian McAndrews, the new CEO of Pandora, will be renegotiating the royalty rates the Internet radio giant pays to the music industry.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose broadly Friday, giving the Dow Jones industrial average its best week since January.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell Friday as the U.S. and Russia held discussions in Geneva aimed at getting Syria to give up its chemical weapons.
Older people searching for jobs have long fought back stereotypes that they lack the speed, technology skills and dynamism of younger applicants. But as a wave of baby boomers seeks to stay on the job later in life, some employers are finding older workers are precisely what they need.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans boosted their spending at retail businesses only modestly in August, indicating that economic growth remains sluggish. Consumers bought more cars, furniture and electronics last month but held back on most other purchases.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Higher energy costs pushed U.S. wholesale prices up 0.3 percent last month. Prices rose a modest 1.4 percent over the past year, the lowest one-year gain since April.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter, the short messaging service named after chirping birds, is finally ready to migrate to Wall Street.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government posted a narrower budget deficit in August compared with a year ago, keeping the annual gap on track to be the smallest in five years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. women have recovered all the jobs they lost to the Great Recession. The same can't be said for men, who remain 2.1 million jobs short.
ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — Dell Inc. will end its quarter-century history as a publicly traded company and try to engineer a turnaround away from the prying eyes of Wall Street following shareholders' approval Thursday of a $24.8 billion buyout offer from the company's founder.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Gene Sperling, President Barack Obama's top economic adviser, plans to leave in January and will be replaced by Jeffrey Zients, who has twice served as White House acting budget director, a White House official said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP leaders eager to avoid blame for a possible government shutdown next month appear confounded by conservatives' passion for using fast-approaching deadlines to derail the implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law.